PTC Therapeutics may be reeling from the failure of its amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) drug utreloxastat yesterday, but the biotech can console itself by counting the cash from the sale of its priority review voucher (PRV).
The company received the rare pediatric disease PRV from the FDA two weeks ago as part of the approval of Kebilidi as a treatment for an ultrarare disease called aromatic L-amino acid decarboxylase deficiency. It marked the U.S. agency’s first approval for a gene therapy that’s administered directly in the brain.
PTC said at the time that it planned to monetize the voucher, and the biopharma announced this morning that it has lined up a sale for $150 million. The company didn’t disclose the name of the buyer.
PRVs have typically traded for around the $100 million mark, although, earlier this month, Acadia Pharmaceuticals made a similar $150 million sale for its own rare pediatric voucher.
The FDA has set out plans to begin sunsetting the rare pediatric designation PRV program from the end of this year.